“It’s about 30 inches in length. And it was left inside my back gate,” said Jane.

On the night of July 30, "Jane" was battling the flu, but when she awoke in the early-morning hours, she noticed what she thought "could have been a potential crime." She shared her story via Facebook and agreed tell her story to the Reader due to what she says is an increase in homes being cased in the area.

Adjacent to her home near the corner of Hill Street and Moana Drive in Point Loma, she noticed a mid-sized white sedan parked on the street.

“I’ve seen it there before,” she told me, “and I saw it earlier but I figured they stopped to text or whatever, so no big deal. It was about 3:20 a.m and I tried to get some sleep but my big dog Jake — who is a pitbull/chow mix, was barking madly. I was afraid to let him out back so I kept him inside. Yet the barking continued.

"Meanwhile, I am trying to get some rest, so at about 4:00 a.m. I cut both dogs loose — Jake and my other dog Duchess, who is a lab/greyhound mix — in the backyard...figured it was a coyote but I've never seen them head straight for the gate so fast.

"They are known barkers, but these dogs were definitely on high alert. Then I noticed the car was still there but this time they had their headlights on and pointed towards my home…. At this point, a tall guy — about 6´4˝, very lanky and wearing a hoodie — got out of the car and started walking towards my home. That’s when I peered through the blinds to alert them I was home and awake.

"Once they realized this, the guy in the hoodie, who was about 50 feet away from me, turned his body to the right, obviously trying to hide his face, and continued down the street while the driver of the car did a U-turn and sped off.”

Jane filed a police report; however, it wasn’t until later that morning that she found disturbing evidence on her property.

“Found this noose by my fence this morning,” she wrote on Facebook. “It’s not long, more dog-sized…my neighbor's dogs were also going crazy last night, too.”

“It’s about 30 inches in length,” Jane told me. “And it was left inside my back gate.”

“Bottom line is we all need to look out for one another and not ignore the obvious,” she commented on her Facebook post. “These characters have been casing the neighborhood and I have seen that car parked before...and they were up to no good...be proactive in your neighborhood to keep our families, animals & property safe...be willing to put yourself out there to help a person or animal being violated.”